Bear finds a voice

What do you see when you really look at the books on your kids' shelf?

Take a scroll through Australia's 100 top-selling kids' picture books of last year, as seen through the eyes of a bear on a mission.

The Elephant in the Room will be your helpful guide.

Once upon a time there was a bear.

Bear had a story. She was looking for someone to listen to it and help her tell it.

Her friend Mrs Chicken would love to help, but thinks Bear would be better off with someone a bit wiser.

"If you want anyone to read it, try Mr Owl." she said.

Elephant says:

In the top 100 picture books of last year, more than twice as many books had a male author, compared to those with a female author.

"But he might want to make a few... tweaks..."

Elephant says:

Male authors were far more likely to produce a book with all male characters.

Almost half of the books by men had all male characters, compared to one in 10 books by women.

Everyone knows Mr Owl tells the best stories. He looks at Bear with a frown.

"What makes you think anyone would want to hear your story?"

Elephant says:

Of the books that did have a lead character, more than two-thirds (69 per cent) were male.

Kids' books were more likely to have no lead than a female lead.

Bear goes to Mr Pig, who is happy to give her advice.

"If you really want anyone to read your story, you should tell them you're a dog."

Elephant says:

More than 10 per cent of the books featured a dog lead character.

Dog characters were seven times more likely to be male than female.

"Or maybe a dog... called 'Pig'!"

Elephant says:

Six books from the bestsellers' list were from the Pig the Pug series by Aaron Blabey.

Blabey's books accounted for 10 per cent of all the books on the list.

Bear goes to see Mrs Bunny who is too tired to take on another job but knows a thing or two about how the world works.

"Try making yourself smaller and fluffier," she tells Bear.

Elephant says:

Non-human female characters were more likely to be chickens or possums than lions or bears.

There was one female bear on the list, compared to six male bears.

Bear is feeling a bit down.

"I can't turn myself into a dog or a chicken!"

She goes to see Mr Monkey, who'd love to help but there's too much monkey business to be done.

"Have you ever considered telling a story about farts?"

Elephant says:

Eight per cent of books on the list were about bodily functions.

"Fart stories are just a lot of hot air. What's wrong with a story about me?" asks Bear.

Bear has one last shot. Surely Mr Fox will want to tell her story.

"If you must make it about you, let's not tell anyone you're a girl," Mr Fox tells Bear.

Elephant says:

There were three male characters for every two female characters in the top 100 books.

Bear is starting to get annoyed.

"We could make the story about you," says Mr Fox, "as long as you don't mind doing a lot of listening."

Elephant says:

Characters with speaking parts were also much more likely to be male than female (62 per cent male).

"And you'd have to have a tough male sidekick to help you," says Mr Fox.

Elephant says:

Only six books had 100 per cent female characters, while 31 books had 100 per cent male characters.

Books were more likely to have no gendered characters than all female characters.

Bear has had enough! She lets out a giant ROAARR!

"I can't be a dog, a chicken, a possum, a fart, or a boy bear!"

At that moment Bear remembered her favourite book.

"We've got to make noises in great amounts!

"So open your voice lad lass! For every voice counts!"

— Dr Seuss, Horton Hears a Who

There was only one thing for it.

"Once upon a time, there was a bear..."

As a female protagonist, Bear is unusual in the top-selling kids' picture books of last year. As a female protagonist who is also a large predatory animal, she's alone. The roadblocks she faces when she tries to tell her story reflect our findings from a detailed look at Nielsen BookScan's top 100.We've put together a list of the main findings if you'd like to know more.

Credits

Story and research: Cristen Tilley

Illustrations and development: Nathan Hoad

Design: Ben Spraggon

Editor: Matt Liddy

Special thanks to Donna Ferguson at The Observer for her generosity and advice.